Investigating communities and bryophyte use in Prothonotary Warbler nests

AOS Student Research Grant Seminar

Presenter: Skadi Kylander, Ph.D. candidate, East Carolina University; AOS 2024 Josselyn Van Tyne Memorial Research Grant
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Many birds incorporate fresh green plants in their nests, which has been hypothesized to moderate communities of harmful organisms therein. This hypothesis has received mixed support with species that use vascular plants, but birds that use nonvascular plants (e.g., mosses) have received less attention. I am working with one of these birds, the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), to characterize arthropod and fungal communities using molecular techniques and identify plants in nests to investigate relationships among these aspects of nests containing nonvascular plants and will present preliminary findings.

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